Heating hood for tank-car outlets



Marh 8, 927' E. A. FALL HEATING HO'OD-FOR TANK CAR OUTLETS Filed Aug. 2, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f2@ Guion/m11@ i l Y March 8 7 E. A. FALL HEATING HOD FOR TANK CAR OUTLETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1922 i Patented Mar. 8, 1927. I

l i UNITED STATES' 1,620,452' PATENT orifice.

EDWARD A. FALL, F RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY.

ymaaTizuef Hoon Foa TANK-can OUTLETS.

Application nica August 2, 1922. serial No. 579,2'o.

The present invention relates to heaters for tank car outlets, and has for its object to provide means whereby'the outlets of tank y cars in which liquid or semi-liquid materials 1 5 are transported may be readilylheated and the outlets freed of any congealed or thickened deposits which may have collected in the outlets so that the iow from the car will be free and unimpeded. v l0 In the transportation ofcertain materials, among which may be named asphaltum and similar bitumen products, diiculty`-has. been experienced, particularly in cold weather, 4because of the material'compacting and congealing, either because of low temperatures, or because of precipitation in the relatively narrowv outlets which are ordinarily arranged at the base `of the car, and lthrough lwhich the contents of the car is drained. This difficulty has been so pronounced that it has been not unusual to build fires beneath the cars at the outlets to heat up the )utlets and their contents so that the material can iiow. This is dangerous, and disastrous lires have resulted, and invariably defacing and injury of the cars'result from this practice.

It is with the object of providing an outlet heater which can be redily applied to the outlets of standard-tank cars that I have devised the construction which will be hereinafter set forth, reference being had to thedrawings lforming part of this specification,

. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a view of so-much of a tank car .'and car frame as is necessary to' illustrate the' application of my invention thereto.

. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale of a tank'car outlet with my G0 heater applied thereto.4 Fig. 3 1s a top plan .shown in Fig.` 2.4

view of the heater Fig. 4 is a' viewv'ofa `:portion of a tank car' withinterrial" heating `coils or pipes having a connection vfor-'the outlet heater.y

v Fig. 5'is a view of a slightly modied formof heater. Y v Fig. 6 is a detail view of a" further modification.

, 59 Referring tothe drawings by numbers, like numbersy indicating likeparts in` theA several. views,'1`0 indicates a portion of the shell of a tank car and 114 indicates lon -"tuJ -dinal holsters of a car on which ,the she 1 '10 issnuitably mounted. l f

The car outlet 12 is conventionally shown, and, as illustrated, co prises the down A spout leading from the ybottom of the car and, ordinarily capped by a closure cap 13, as shown in Fig. 2. This outlet is customarily anged as at 14, and the flange riveted to the bottom of the car 10, and the bolsters 11 ordinarily run longitudinally of thecar as shown..

v In order to effectively warm up theoutlet 05 12, I provide a hood 15 made in .any suitable manner, as from sheetmetal, as shown, this hood being preferably double walled a'nd havmg heat insulation between its walls, the lowerend of the hood, in the form shown in F1g.'2, having a closed bottom and a drain cock 16 at its lower end. The up er end of the hood is enlarged as shown, an vprovided with areceiving groove in its upper surface to take" the packing 17 which, when the de- 7 v1c"e 1s in place, as shown in Figr 2, bears against the ange 14, as here shown, although it might be arranged to bear against `the bottom ofthe car and form a fluid tight joint. The upper end .of the hood is surrounded by a supporting ring 18 which has radially extending lugs 19, into which lugs 'screw bolts 20 are-threaded, the lugs being so proportioned that the bolts 20 rest upon .the tops of the. holsters or girders 11, and when set up by a wrench or suitable tool, will Vforce the hood 15 and the packin 17 into close Contact with the flange 14, o the bot. toml of the car, and hold the hood firmly in posltion. The hood is provided, at any' suitable point, with an inlet 21, it-being here' shown as entering the side wall, end .this inlet 21 can be coupled with any suitable source of steam or fluid heating medium. When the: device 1s in place, as shown inI Fig. 2, the steam will be turned on and the hood 15 filled with live steam, completely envelopin the outlet 12,'and, by reason of the enlar ed upper end of thejhood, covering a consi erable' area of the bottom ofifhe car. This will have the result'of-soft-. uggandmeltin the material in and abotf'the outlet 12, an aft-g er that has been softened so that it will' ow, the hood can bel removed, and, upon taking. of the ca 13,-the contents of the car maybe thoroug ydrained.

condensation, the can be opened so 11 as to free the hood of any collected liquids or if it should be desired to have a iow of live steam through the hood during theA heating of the outlet, the cock 16 may be turned so as to vent the hood and permit a continuous flow oflive steam.

If desired, the hood can be secured to the car so as to be always present by means of the chain 22 fastened at any suitable point on the hood and to any suitable connection, as the eye 23, secured to the car frame.

In that form of the invention shown in Fig. 4, the same construction as shown in Y Fig. 2 and hereinb'efore described will be used, but I will obtain my heating supply for the hood from the internal heating pipes 24 of the tank car. The heating pipes 24 may, of course, be variously arranged in the car, the showing here belng merely illustrative, and from such car heating pipes, I provide a valved connection 25 with a ilexible member' 26 which will couple with the hood 27. With this arrangement, it will be possible, b means of the valve 28, to keep steam in t e hood 27 during transportation so that the outlet from the car will be alwaysI in proper condition, and the flexible connection 26 will permit the removal of the hood when it is desired. Of course, if the hood be not in place during transportation, it may be applied when the car is ready for draining,o and the steam may then be turned on from the pipes 24 so as to warm up the hood and the outlet therein. l

In 'the form of the invention heretofore described, it will be observed that the hood is quickly removable relative to the outlet. In the form of the invention shown in Fi 5, a construction is shown vin which semipermanent securin of ythe hood in place is provided for. In t is construction, the hood Z9 is constructed identicallywith that form.-

heretofore described, except that it is shorter han the outlet, and its bottom 30 terminates at 'a point above the cap 31 of the outlet 32, the bottom 30 having an opening therethrough to permit the passage of the outlet 32, and this opening may be tightly sealed against the outlet, or, as shown in Fig. -5,

it may have a leakage area 33 to permit t-he steam coming through the inlet 34 Vand the products of condensation to seep out from the hood so that there will be live .steam pass- "ing through the hood, and the steam issuing through the leakage passage 33 will pass upwardly and into contact with the bottom of the car, thus aiding in liquefying the contents of the car about the outlet.

If the bottom 30 be tightly sealed to the so that the device willv become a semi-per-l manent part of the car, although readily removable for repairs and replacement; The fastenings 37 may be loosened, the cap 31 removed from the outlet 32, and then the hood 29 may be readily taken off.

It is sometimes desirable to permit the `steam to seep out so that a current of live steam will be passing through the hood, and the escaping steam rising beneath and about the bottom of the car will tend to warm the bottom of the car and the contents in the immediate vicinity of the outlet.

I have shown,`in Fig. 6, a construction adapted to accomplish this result, in which the hood 39 is provided at a suitable point, in theJ present instance at its upper enlarged part, with an opening 40 which is controlled by a damper plate 4l suitably mounted so that it may be rotated to open and close the apertures 40, it being contemplated that a series of these apertures in sulicient number to permit the proper amount of, steam to escape will be provided. With this arrange' ment and the damper control described, more or le steam may be permitted to pass through an out of the hood inclose relation to the bottom of the car, and will materially aid inl liquefying the contents.

It willbe understood that such variations from the construction herein disclosed as involve .mechanical skill and the use of other expedients equivalent of those herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. The combination with a tank car having an outlet extending downward from its body, and a removable closure for the lower end ofsaid outlet, of a hood surrounding said outlet and forming therewith an annular chamber Closed at its lower end, a fluid inlet extending throu h a wall ofthe `hood,.and means indepen ent of the tank body'and outlet for supporting the hood.

2. The combination with a tank car including a frame' and having an outlet extending downward from its body, between members of the frame ofthe car,I of a hood 'surrounding said `outlet and forming therewith anl annular chamber, a fluid inlet extending through a wall of the hood, and means detachably engaginof the frame of the car at opposite sides of the hood for supporting it in .position about the tank outlet.

3. A heating appliance for tank car outlets, comprising a hood adapted to bedetachably positioned about an outlet of the tank body and formtherewith` a heating chamber, a Huid inlet extending through a wall of the hood, and means ro`ectin laterally from opposite sides of t e ood or engaging the car and supporting the hood about the outlet independent of any engage` outlets, the'combination of a double walled, open end hood adapted to be placed over an outlet, a packing at the upper end of said hood, a closed bottom lfor said hood, a fluid inlet leading through a `Wall thereof, and adjustable means for securing said hood in place and forcing csaid packing against the car about said outlet. c v

6. In a heating appliance for tank car outlets, thecombination of a 'double walled,

' open end hood adapted to be placedv over an l outlet, a packin receiving groove at the open end of said iood, a sealing packing in said groove, a closed bottoni for said hood, a fluid inlet entering through aA Wall thereof, arms extending laterally from said hood, and means carried by said arms-to adjustablysupport said hood about said outlet and force said packing against the car.

7. In a heating appliance for tank car `outlets, the combination of an open end hood adapted to be placed over an outlet andhaving double insulated walls, an enlarged upper end for. said -hood having a packing groove therein, a sealing packing in said groove, a closed bottom4 for said hood, a fluid @inlet leading through a wall thereof, a supporting yoke having laterally extending arms secured to the top of said yoke and screw bolts mounted in sald arms and adapted to engage portions of a car to adjustably ing upwardly against the car outlet.

8. A heating appliance for tank oar outlets, comprising an elongated hood closed at one end and having its opposite end open vabout said and of greater diameter than the closedend,

means extending laterally from the hood adapted to detachably engage a car frame and support the hood about a tank car outlet with the edge of its enlarged` open, end in contact with the tank, a fluid inlet extending through a wall of the hood, anda drain'outlet extending through thel closed` end of the hood.

9; In av heating appliance for tank car l open end in contact with the tank, said hood having an inlet and anoutlet for a heating medium, and means for supporting said hood independently of the tank: body and outlet and maintain-ing close'contact between its open end and the tank about the outlet.

' ll. The combination with a tank car having an outlet extending downward from its body and provided with means -normally preventing the flow of liquid therethrough,

Vof a casing dctachably positioned about said outlet to provide a heating chamber surrounding the vertical wall of' theoutlet and extending below and across the lower end thereof and having a fluid-inlet extending through its wall. c

12. The herein describedv attachment for tank cars comprising a hood-like casing,

open at one end, whereby it may-be posic tioned about a tank car outlet to'forin therewith a'chamber surrounding such outlet and extending across the discharge .endgthereoL and means for detachably supporting said casing in position, a heating .fluid inlet behold said hood in place andl force said packing provided casing.

Injtestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

in one of] the walls of the y' EDWARD A. FALL'. 

